442 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

lessons from history' (or even that ' history has no lessons
to teach'). But, despite such exceptional philosophers, ex-
perience is a great teacher (may be sometimes an unsuccess-
ful teacher); and History is a record of the accumulated
experience of our race. Our aim in this little volume has
been only 'to hold the mirror up to the whole pageant of
man's life ... in all parts of our planet, in all ages and
climes, to the extent that space will permit/ Lest the mirror
might get choked with images, we confined our choice in
the foregoing pages to the ' significant/ In this concluding
part of our survey we must assess the significance of our
selection,—still hoping that we may have ' raised the curtain
on a scene in the drama which I have found extremely
engaging.' .;,;;;

In reviewing human Progress in Antiquity we observed
that ' The history of man is an account of ... inventions
pertaining to his material as well as spiritual wants/ and
also that ' The two are inseparable/ We found the secret
of man's superiority over all other creatures in his 'inven-
tive intelligence' which has been the cause of all his pro-
gress. Within the limits of his 'powers of organisation*
man has shown himself to be 'the master of his destiny'
and ' the potential lord of the earth and nature/ His civi-
lisation has comprised the 'multiplication and refinement
of wants/ These ' wants' have been in relation to his body,
mind, 'heart* or 'spirit/ all of which together constitute
his 'personality/ The satisfaction of the needs of human
personality has constituted the primary urge which in the
course of long ages has evolved cultures or civilisation.1

1 We shall use the term Culture to denote a particular type
like * Greek Culture' or 'Hindu Culture'; and the term Civilisa-
tion to denote the general progress of the Human Race as a